From Robin:
Posted: Apr 27, 2011 - 11:15 PM By: Robin Esterhammer (Member)
Both Lukas and I were just asked by the lawyer of the Bernstein Estate to stop these postings, and I will agree with that. Not, however, before telling my side of the story.
When I first decided to release Slipstream, I contacted Nigel Green's office at Entertainment Films in England. I was told that "this title is not ours" by the lady in his office.
I then went to Elmer Bernstein's Estate, who told me they own the PUBLISHING AND the MASTERS, which they would license to me. Lukas, I know you need all the rights to release a soundtrack album.
BOTH THEIR LAWYER AND I SIGNED THIS AGREEMENT.
I then had the tapes from USC transferred to digital (at my cost) with the permission of the Bernstein Estate.
Then, the shit hit the fan. I was openly accused by many people, including Roger Feigelson of Intrada (who nevertheless saw nothing wrong with buying 140 copies of the alleged bootleg) and others, that they were "suspicious" about the legitimacy of the release.
I responded, elaborating on the article I wrote in the booklet.
Then, a few weeks passed, and I contacted Lukas, who by then had become gatekeeper at Warner Bros, about looking into some release possibilities for me. He responded that he doesn’t feel like recommending me to the execs at WB because Slipstream was a bootleg and that he doesn’t want to do business with me. I wrote back to him, explaining to him pretty much what I am now writing to you.
He didn’t believe me. (By the way, he never said to me that he would call the Estate if I didn’t stop bothering him.)
I suggested to him to look up the legal notice on the album. (He was right in one point, however: It is not enough to put a © and “Released Under License From Elmer Bernstein Enterprises Inc”. I guess I should have put a (P), as well. Oh well, you live and learn.) He thought this was the proof that I didn’t license this properly!
Then he called the Estate’s lawyer, who told him that he would send me a “cease and desist” letter, apparently based on the information LUKAS HAD GIVEN HIM. I was shocked, as this was not the reaction I had expected from someone who had signed a licensing agreement with me. So, I called him. He was apologetic and said that there were two contradicting paragraphs in the licensing agreement that we both should have been aware of. More was said that I am not at liberty to post publicly, however.
I took the CD off our Web site, because I wanted to respect with the lawyer’s request, not because I knew I had done something wrong. I contacted the film company’s lawyer to see whether they own the masters to the music. (He didn’t know that, by the way.)
If what I had done was illegal, I’d be in court right now. No one is suing anyone. We are in talks about how we can sort this mess out. All parties involved.
I have read that a lot of people would never buy a CD from me or trust me ever again. I know that trust has been lost, and I will do everything I can to regain this trust. For the next releases, I will tell you (on my site, for those who are interested) where these licenses came from and how I got them, just so you know that these aren’t bootlegs.
I know there were a couple of titles in the past where I should have checked ALL the facts better than how I did it, but I can ascertain you that I will not do this again.
I am not a bootlegger, people. I am an honest businessman, who is trying to make people happy. As Lukas, MV, Roger and others can tell you, this is not a big money business. Perseverance has no financial backers or investors. All the money I make from selling these CDs goes right back into the production of new releases.
By the way, I am paying royalties on this CD; and I paid a nice advance to the Estate. What bootlegger does that?
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